College Basketball: La Salle tops St. Joseph's at the Palestra

PHILADELPHIA ­— He thought he had it in November, kept looking for it in December, never stopped the search in January, kept at it in February.

Saturday, Phil Martelli vowed to keep looking for consistency, still convinced it is around somewhere, even after a 76-64 St. Joseph’s loss to La Salle in the Palestra.

“Sure,” the Hawks’ coach said.

Give him a wider net? A brighter flashlight? How about more rebounds?

Tyreek Duren shot 9-for-12 and 6-for-6 at the line to lead the Explorers, who improved to 18-6, 8-3 in the Atlantic 10. On its 28 field goals, La Salle had 22 assists. Ramon Galloway had 16 points and 12 assists.

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The Hawks were outrebounded, 26-19, and seldom enjoyed an uncontested shot. And in falling to 14-10 and 5-6 in the Atlantic 10, that put them in grave danger of losing any chance for an at-large NCAA Tournament berth. Their next game is Saturday, at home against George Washington.

“We went all-in today,” Martelli said. “I used everything I had, knowing we had a week off. And now we have to judge ourselves by the teams that are above us. We stood toe-to-toe with VCU. We stood toe-to-toe with Butler. This was another chance and we have to call it the way it is: We didn’t stand toe-to-toe with them today. That’s the way we have to look at it.”

Though the Hawks hardly were blown out, they were seldom, if at all, in much control. A 12-2 flurry gave La Salle a 24-18 lead late in the first half, and the Hawks would draw no closer than within 32-27 in the second half.

Halil Kanacevic topped Saint Joseph’s with 16 points, Ronald Roberts added 13 and Langston Galloway 12. Kanacevic might have been more productive, Martelli strongly implied, if not for what the Hawks’ coach would call some “poor refereeing.”

Martelli’s complaint --- essentially delivered voluntarily, without much press prodding --- was that the bulky, active Kanacevic was victimized by tumbling defenders who, in theory, could draw offensive fouls and limit an offense’s aggressiveness.

Looking away from the press as if in deep thought after a question about Kanacevic, Martelli said, “ahh … (the heck with) it ...” and then began his thesis.

“The flops have to stop,” he said. “It’s just silly. That’s just silly. Nothing to do with the game. But it did impact his game. It’s just silly. It’s poor refereeing. But I think that Halil has … we’ve been able to restrict his game a little bit and put the ball more in the post. What I want him to become is a a great layup shooter. He is a good layup shooter. But he is not a great layup shooter yet. He stayed with it. He had composure in the second half. (I was) just kind of probing and looking to see if we could play three bigs. But the ball was just on a string from from (Ramon) Galloway to Duren.

“Halil? That’s what he has given us every day in practice. And to be honest with you, some of the inconsistency that you’re seeing, that’s what we see in practice. We think like, ‘That can’t be the same guy, not from two plays ago.’ But Halil has practiced in a very mature way since he came back from his suspension.”

Kanacevic was suspended by Martelli for two games earlier in the season after he’d taunted Villanova fans in the Pavilion. For that, Martelli says, the alleged La Salle flopping had a chance to rattle Kanacevic, who was not available for comment afterward.

“Because he’s mine, I can say this: He is a highly emotional guy, OK?” Martelli said. “And those flops can set you to getting engaged with referees. He did last year. And he hasn’t this year. Look: He had a meltdown at Villanova and he is accountable for that. But he hasn’t engaged in anything. And when it is that poor --- when it is that evident to everybody in the place except the guy who blows the whistle --- that can set you off. But he’s maintained it.”

Martelli was careful to stress that, “the better team won.”.

“We played real well,” coach John Giannini said. “We played extremely hard. We didn’t stop. The stats speak for themselves. We had beautiful passing today. And as they say, great passing makes great shooters.”

La Salle has won its last four and six of its last seven.

“We went into the locker room and said, ‘Enjoy the win,” Ramon Galloway said. “Now, it is on to play Temple (Thursday). We want to be great. We don’t want to settle for being good.”